A Strong Foundation
by shadowblade-tara
Summary: Three years after NF takes hold, a new addition from KITT's past emerges. Can the sisters protect their partners from this newcomer and still rescue the brothers from FLAG's grasp? Sequel to Sisters Knight. DISCONTINUED
1. Kind of a Solo Mission

AN: Hello, my loyal readers! Just an FYI, this story picks up three years after the end of Sisters Knight. So yes, there is a massive gap here. I'll be filling it in as we go. Ready? Hang on!

**Kind of a Solo Mission**

Jessica Knight hated stakeouts. She especially hated stakeouts with KARR when Raven wasn't with them. Then again, it was hard to do a stakeout in the flame red Cuda to begin with, but Raven and KARR refused to change the color. Even parked as far down the road as they were, with as many buildings as there were in between them and the suspect building, she knew they had to stick out like a sore thumb. Half a block away was what was possibly a rented store used to ship electronics between different FLAG bases. Or so she desperately hoped.

Or maybe Jess was just cranky. After all, they had been at this for five days, and Jess had never been what one would call patient. "Are we sure this is a FLAG base?" she asked KARR.

The AI sighed. "For the thousandth time, yes, we're sure." he said irritably. "A few more days, we'll have proof, and we can storm the place in force." He sounded darkly pleased with that result. Then again, KARR simply hated FLAG. Period.

Jess laughed. "And we can help Heather burn it to the ground." she said happily.

KARR seemed to relax at that. "I thought Banachek took away her matches." he pointed out.

"We've found other ways of lighting fires." Jess said dismissively. "Besides, Chris sometimes lets her use his." She flashed the dash a grin. "Don't tell. Chris gets into enough trouble as it is. That and Borden lets her use his lighter on occasion, but he keeps getting blamed for those fires."

"I'm surrounded by pyromaniacs." KARR teased.

Jess took the bait. "You and KITT are the worst of us!" she shot back with a grin. "It was you who started this whole thing, and KITT agreed to –"

A sudden gunshot cut her off, and her eyes snapped to the building they were watching. A woman, probably in her late thirties to early forties, threw the door open and made a mad dash for the end of the block. Jess quickly put the Cuda in gear and went after her. Hopefully she could get to the woman before the guards did, because she wasn't going to make it around the corner.

KARR abruptly took over. He outran the woman to the end of the block and executed a perfect turn, stopping right in front of her with only a little bit of squealing from the tires. The passenger door opened automatically.

At that moment, the guards came out of the door and took aim.

"Get in!" Jess snapped. The woman quickly got in and slammed the door shut just as the two guards opened fire. She screamed even as the bullets bounced harmlessly off the windows. Jess flinched, but by now she was used to gunfire. Now she trusted the MBS with her life. She slammed her foot on the gas and peeled out as she shot down the street and headed out of the city.

After a moment, the woman uncurled from her defensive position. "You can slow down now." she said shakily. "I think we left them behind."

"Hardly." Jess growled. She pressed a button on the dash and activated the police frequency. "This is NF Agent Jessica Knight reporting location of suspect terrorist cell."

"_Roger, Agent Knight. Ready for location."_

Jess rattled off the address and cut off communications. "That'll keep 'em occupied for a while." she muttered darkly. The woman shook her head.

"I don't know who you are, but you should know FLAG isn't a terrorist cell." she said sadly.

Jess muttered something uncomplimentary under her breath. "Where have you been the past three years?" she demanded. "New Foundation has declared open season on FLAG. According to the law enforcement, they are terrorists." She chuckled. "Now, admittedly no one will be there by the time the cops show, but that'll make 'em scatter long enough for us to get out of here." Her cell phone buzzed, and she quickly flipped it open.

A text message from KARR, short and to the point.

**don't tell her who I am**

Jess shrugged, made a show of texting back (which she still didn't know how to do), and closed the phone. She glanced at the woman. "So, what exactly does FLAG want with you?" she asked.

The woman shrugged noncommittally. "First, answer my questions."

"I'll answer yours if you answer mine."

The woman nodded. "All right. I go first. Who are you?"

Jess sighed. Really, was the woman stupid? "I'm Jessica Knight, but call me Jess. Everyone does. I work for the New Foundation, which was developed to counter the now-terrorist FLAG." She gave the woman a look. "My turn. What's your name?"

"Bonnie Barstow."

Jess almost choked. Small wonder KARR didn't want her to know about him. She would have to remember to tell Raven about this. "You used to work for FLAG. You developed AIs."

"Yes." Bonnie said, her voice filled with old sadness. "But the only one is gone now."

"Scrapped?"

"Something like that." She sighed and turned away from the window in favor of studying Jess. "He's been gone so long – there's no way he could have survived almost fourteen years without maintenance. He's gone now." She tilted her head to the side and smiled slightly. "My turn. We were hit with those bullets. Why aren't we dead?"

Jess stiffened. "Next."

"Not until you answer that one."

"Then you're going to have to wait." Jess said. "We're almost at HQ. Hang on tight and I'll bring you right in." The cell phone vibrated again, and she flipped it open.

**hq under attack. flag op paul travers involved.**

Jess grimaced. "Or sooner." She pressed down on the accelerator, hoping she wasn't too late.


	2. Ground Zero

**Ground Zero**

Everything was chaos and pandemonium at New Foundation HQ. Jess pulled KARR to a complete stop, surveying the area. "Where is everyone?" she demanded.

Carson appeared in the backseat. He leaned in between the seats and pointed through the windshield. "Raven is that way. She's standing in between FLAG mercenaries and the garage. My bet is she's covering for Kitson and Heather. They're in there – probably arming themselves, knowing Heather. Borden and Drake are by the armory. They're using the warehouses as a maze to circle back around on their attackers. I don't know where Banachek is, and the medic is hiding in the clinic, the cursed coward that he is." Jess snickered at that.

"Where's Chris?" she asked.

"He's in the armory with a few other of the mechanics, keeping everyone else in ammo from the looks of it." Carson said. "Your boyfriend is resourceful."

"Thank you. I think."

"Where did you come from?" Bonnie demanded.

"I've been here the whole time." Carson said blandly. "I opened the door for you. Didn't you see me?" Bonnie simply shook her head and looked around. Jess reached over her and opened the glove compartment. She drew a gun – a snubnosed revolver – and glanced back at Carson. He nodded. "Don't worry. I'll keep her safe. Get to the others." She nodded and quickly opened the driver's door and took off, keeping her head low. KARR had to admit, paintball tournaments had kept her light on her feet. She was using the same techniques she used in her little tournaments.

Bonnie's face was pale. "This would break Devon's heart." she murmured. "FLAG was never supposed to be a violent agency. We were trying to help people, not hurt them."

Carson snorted in contempt. That wasn't the Devon Miles he knew. "FLAG has changed." he said blandly. "It is only obvious that New Foundation should do the same." He reached over to the dash and pressed a button. It was only for show, but the last thing he wanted was Bonnie Barstow thinking that he was an AI. "Raven, Jess is coming in. She's making her way across the lot. Do you see her?"

"_I see her."_ Raven replied, her voice tight. _"Man, I hope Chris hurries up. I'm not doing much with this little thing."_

"_How about this?"_ KARR recognized Heather's voice immediately. He honed in on them, and almost groaned when he saw what Heather had. Jess and Raven still had a tendency to use big guns with lots of ammo for big jobs. Heather preferred the one well-placed bullet for each target method with a smaller gun. Raven was now holding an AK-47. Heather had a .45 Sig. Easier to handle for her, but Raven liked the statement the bigger guns made. Carson shook his head.

"For the love of all things holy, be careful." he warned.

Raven laughed. _"Aren't we always?"_

Carson flicked off the comm. link. "I hate it when they do that." he muttered. At Bonnie's look, he continued, "Apparently, Banachek hired a bunch of sadists when he hired the sisters."

"Are they all named Knight?" Bonnie asked. Carson shrugged noncommittally. She gave him a hard glare. "Hey, I'm caught in the crossfire too. I have a right to know –" At that moment a rocket broadsided the parked vehicle, sending it rolling a few feet before it finally righted itself. Carson quickly slid into the driver's seat, ignoring the disoriented Bonnie. Lucky – or perhaps unlucky – that she was still wearing her seat belt. KARR would have loved to see her go flying. KARR sent dirt flying as he picked up speed, trying to get out of the rocket launcher's path. Bonnie struggled to hold on. "What's happening?

"Mortars." Carson grunted. "Kitson, where are you?"

"_In the garage."_ KITT replied, thankfully using what the girls had affectionately termed his human voice as opposed to the normal, electronically tinged voice that Bonnie was sure to recognize. _"I'll be right out. Although you might want to know – the scanners indicate the rocket launcher is a safe couple miles away from the perimeter. We aren't getting to it."_

"Want to make a bet?" Carson grunted, swerving to avoid yet another rocket. He cursed. "This is stupid. I'm heading away from the garage."

"_It's safest in here."_

"Yes, and I'll draw their fire to the girls." Carson snapped. "No. I'll take my chances."

Bonnie held on. She had no other choice.

/----/

Heather quickly slid another clip into the Sig and resumed fire. "Have I mentioned I hate firefights?" she asked Raven in a conversational tone. Raven grunted as she resumed her fight – simply spraying everyone in sight with a deadly rain of bullets.

"Once or twice." she said.

"Can I say it again?"

"Will it make you feel better?

"Yes."

"Go ahead."

Heather squeezed off a few rounds, taking out the four men who were trying to sneak up on her blind side. "I hate firefights." Another three rounds, and three more people dropped to the ground. "Honestly, where do they get these guys? They're nothing but cannon fodder."

"Say what?" Raven cast her a confused look, never taking her focus from the battle.

"I'll explain later." She glanced up, and froze. "KITT! The chopper – that has to be how they're coordinating this!"

"How did you hear that over the gunfire?!" Raven demanded.

"I didn't. I looked up."

"I see it." KITT said. "You guys should move – one to either side of the doorway, please. I'm going to take it down." The girls quickly moved to where KITT wanted them, and a split second later, KITT's laser fired. A red beam shot out from the grillwork and sheared off one of the propellers. The chopper spun in a deadly tumble to the ground. The explosion was probably a sight to see, but the girls had their focus on the minions of FLAG that had been surrounding them.

They were retreating.

"What do we do?" Raven wondered. "Just let them go?"

Heather hesitated. She had always been taught not to press a fight she'd already won, especially by her sensei, but this once it might get their point across.

Then she noticed the NF guards giving chase. "No need." she said, holstering her weapon. "Let them have their fun."

Raven grinned. "No problem." She shifted the weight of her gun and winced when the movement aggravated the wound in her upper arm. She'd taken a bullet earlier in the battle – a glancing blow, really – but Heather and Kitson had bandaged it up to the best of their ability. She had been able to defend herself.

Kitson and Jess appeared by their sides. Blood was smeared across Jess's side, probably another near miss. She was breathing heavily. "Are you guys all right?"

"Am I the only one who didn't get hurt?" Heather demanded.

"Uh – check your arm." Raven said with a laugh.

Heather looked down. Shrapnel from one near-miss with a grenade had shredded the skin on her upper arm. She hadn't even noticed. "Well, heck. Looks like we're all visiting the infirmary."

/---/

An: Okay, I'm stopping there. This thing is taking on a life of its own.


	3. Aftermath Suspicion

**Aftermath Suspicion**

Everyone gathered in the garage. Borden and Drake leaned against the wall closest to KITT. Kitson was sitting on the hood of the Trans-Am, nonchalant, as he had seen Michael do numerous times. Beside KITT was KARR, and Carson was mimicking his brother's pose. Banachek guided Bonnie into the garage, followed by Heather, Jess, and Raven. The medic – and old, wiry man named Gail – followed them with his first-aid kit in his hand. Kitson turned to watch as Gail sat the girls down in a circle in between KITT and KARR. Carson glanced over and glared at the medic. Before Banachek could say anything, he spoke up.

"You still working here, dirty old pervert?" he spat. Gail glared right back.

"Like you have room to talk." he bit out. "You want me to fix your girlfriend or not?" He turned his focus back to Raven's arm and began stitching up the wound. Heather kept her eyes focused solely on him.

"You do realize if you do anything, and Raven doesn't gut you, I will." she pointed out.

"Like you're in any condition to do anything." Gail snipped.

"I'm not. He is." She pointed at Carson. "And him." Kitson. "Him." Borden. "And him." Drake. She smiled sweetly. "What I'll do is sound the alarm, sit back, and enjoy watching them tear you to pieces."

"Are all of you this violent?" Bonnie demanded. Her face was slightly pale, her eyes wide in shock. This wasn't what she was used to. The only time she had ever seen Michael even half as mad was when Stevie was killed. She hadn't approved, but she understood. This she didn't even understand.

"We have a code." Kitson said. "Mess with one of us, mess with all of us."

Raven chuckled dryly. "In other words, that which does not kill us had better run pretty damn fast." She hissed in pain as Gail began stitching up the wound. It only took a minute, and then he moved on to Jess. This time Raven stopped him. "Stitch Heather up. We'll take care of Jess." Gail glared at her but did as he was told.

"You really don't like him, do you?" Banachek wondered.

"We've been telling you this for how long now?" Borden muttered sourly. "So who's the chick? Jess told us she picked up a passenger, but she wouldn't say who."

Kitson glanced up at the new woman and froze. Even before Banachek said it, he knew.

"This is Bonnie Barstow. I'm running her prints now, but for the moment we'll call her Bonnie." He motioned to each member of the team in turn as he introduced them to Bonnie. "That's Borden and Drake, our mechanics and computer specialists; Heather, Jess, and Raven Knight, our agents, and Kitson and Carson." He stopped there. How exactly was he supposed to explain what those two were to New Foundation?

Kitson smiled at Bonnie. "We're what you might call benefactors." he said simply. Once again, Carson got a smirk on his face like he knew something that his brother wasn't saying. Bonnie ignored it. Her focus was on the black Trans-Am.

"Who drives that?" she asked, pointing at it.

Banachek shrugged. "Whoever he wants to." he replied simply.

Kitson overrode him. "I own the Trans-Am." he said, glaring at Banachek. "If the girls need to borrow it, I let them." It felt odd, talking about himself as an it, but he had learned that referring to the car the same way he referred to himself only got unwanted questions. Until they got the confirmation from the print lab, there was no way he was letting this woman know about him. Banachek nodded and turned to Bonnie.

"What we would like to know is what FLAG wants with you." he said gently.

Bonnie hesitated. "Can we talk about that tomorrow?" she asked. "I'm extremely tired."

"Of course. I'll show you your room." With that the two of them left. Chris stepped out of the shadows where he had watched the entire exchange. Gail stood up and left, ignoring Jess who still had a makeshift bandage wrapped around her side. Heather moved over to her and began stitching up her side. It wasn't as good as it would have been if Gail had done it, but none of them were taking chances with that man.

Chris crouched down beside Heather. "Is it bad?"

"She's fine." Heather assured him. "We just didn't want that perv touching her." Chris grimaced and sat down behind Jess, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. Kitson and Carson exchanged looks and vanished. KARR spoke up.

"We would appreciate it if the girls stayed with us tonight." he said.

KITT agreed. "Actually, we would appreciate it if all of you stayed in the garage tonight." he added. "After what happened last time, I don't want to take any chances until the print lab confirms her identity." His electronic voice was dark, and Borden walked over to lean against the passenger side door. The young man didn't say a word, but his presence was all the comfort KITT needed. KITT still had a habit of turning on himself for not seeing through the fake Michael soon enough. In the end, though, it hadn't mattered. Raven, Jess, and KARR had made sure of that.

"You do realize that Paul is back, right?" Borden pointed out suddenly. Heather didn't even flinch as she tied off the ends of Jess's stitches.

"Oh yea. He made his presence known with a grenade a bit too far to my left." she said dryly. Borden rolled his eyes.

"You idiot. Do you realize – "

"Yes, I realize." Heather snapped, turning to glare at her brother. "I realize he's a dangerous psychopath that's probably just itching for a reason to kill us all, but primarily me. When are you going to realize that I am perfectly capable of defending myself and have no need of your concern?"

"Self-preservation is a touchy issue for Heather." Jess explained to Chris, who was still holding her with a dumbfounded look on his face. At that moment, Heather got up and retreated to a small room that was connected to the garage, where they kept a small supply of food and a toilet. Jess almost laughed. She and Raven got into bickering fights when they disagreed. Heather and Borden avoided each other.

It was almost cute.

"Okay." Raven said suddenly. "If that's all said and done, I'm going to brave Heather's so-called wrath, get into some clean clothes, and go to sleep." She glanced at KARR, and the Cuda opened the driver's door. She smiled. "See you guys in the morning – anyone wants to wake me up, remember that I am running out of places to hide the bodies."

As soon as she was out of the room, Drake laughed. "She's just so sweet."

"Don't let her hear you say that." KARR muttered.

/----/

An: Once again, I'm cutting this a bit short and abruptly. It has a life of its own, and it won't stop!


	4. Disgrace

**Disgrace**

Everyone had once again gathered in the garage. Bonnie didn't quite understand why – it wasn't like the mansion didn't have rooms big enough to hold all of them. Once again, the two cars were present, as well as Kitson, Carson, the girls, Borden and Drake, the mechanic Chris, a military woman named Lake, and Banachek himself. Bonnie liked Banachek – he reminded her of Devon, in a strange way. She wasn't sure how she felt about the girls. They were violent and unpredictable. They shared Michael's last name, but they weren't a thing like him.

She had her suspicions about the Trans-Am. She was beginning to have suspicions about the Cuda, but it would be a while before she made any accusations about that. She wanted to make sure.

Banachek grabbed a rolling chair and passed it over to Bonnie, who sat down. The girls were over against the wall, along with Kitson and Carson. Borden, Drake, and Chris were working on the cars. Banachek cleared his throat, drawing her attention back to him. She almost smiled. Definitely like Devon.

"I want to know why you were with FLAG when one of my agents was about to raid the place." he said calmly. "We could have killed you, you know."

"Would that really have been a bad thing?" Jess muttered under her breath. Heather snickered, but Raven shook her head.

"Prints came in this morning." she murmured. "The woman really is Bonnie Barstow."

Jess choked and looked over at Kitson. He didn't say anything, simply stared at the woman currently facing down Banachek. Bonnie Barstow had been extremely close to KITT, although probably not as close as Michael Knight had been. She wondered, briefly, if KITT would want Bonnie to stick around.

She wondered if KITT would go with Bonnie if she chose to leave.

"I still say she's no big loss." Heather grumbled. "She's too attached to FLAG – or rather, what FLAG used to be. She may just betray us."

"You , maybe." Kitson said quietly. "But she won't betray me."

"Meaning she'll act in your best interest and put the rest of us in danger." Raven said.

"Exactly."

Bonnie sighed. "FLAG wanted me to build them a new AI. They think you guys have AIs, so they want one to counteract yours." She shrugged. "I told them no one has the technology to develop anything like what Wilton Knight envisioned."

"What did he dream of?" Banachek asked quietly.

"The Knight Industries Two Thousand." Bonnie responded. "He's programmed to never endanger a human life and to protect the life of his driver above all others."

Kitson snorted. "Yes. And then I got into trouble when I injured a man who was going to kill Michael." he muttered. "They didn't realize that while I couldn't kill, I could accidentally injure someone if it meant protecting my driver. They fixed that pretty quick." His voice was bitter. Carson glanced over at him.

"That doesn't matter anymore." he said.

"No, it doesn't."

"Did they have the technology needed?" Banachek continued with his questioning, although the girls knew he was listening in. As much as he annoyed them at times, and as many times as they had gone out of their way to annoy him, they were still friends. They still wanted to protect each other.

Bonnie shook her head. "They wanted to use KITT's prototype – KARR. The Knight Automated Roving Robot. I told them I wouldn't do anything with KARR's old programming. It was defective."

"How so?" Now she had Banachek's attention. It wasn't that he knew KARR was Knight Industries – he knew that long ago, although he hadn't told the girls that he knew. But no one had said anything about KARR being defective.

"He didn't have the same programming KITT had." Bonnie explained tiredly. "He was designed to defend himself, not others. He – "

"Oh, and that makes him defective?" Raven demanded, taking a step forward. Carson reached forward to grab her arm, but she brushed him away. "Does it?"

"Raven-blowout on an epic scale in 3 – 2 – 1!" Jess cackled.

Bonnie stared at her for a moment. "You don't understand. KARR killed a man for no reason only two weeks after his activation."

"I know that. Does that make him _defective_?" Raven was practically steaming now. Heather had her arms crossed over her chest, a slight smirk on her face. She was going to enjoy this. Carson kept glancing between Raven and Bonnie, as if debating if it was worth trying to stop her from attacking the defenseless woman.

"You don't think murder is a defect?" Bonnie was practically shouting now. Kitson calmly took a step out of the line of fire.

"Bonnie, it may not be for the best to antagonize Raven." he warned. "She's violent."

"I know that." Bonnie snapped. "She'd be KARR's other half."

Suddenly Raven's anger vanished and she laughed. "That I am." she said. She glanced at the others. "I guess we should go ahead and tell her, huh?"

Heather sighed. Jess merely shrugged. "Might as well." Jess said. "She'll find out sooner or later." Kitson and Carson exchanged looks, shrugged, and vanished at the same time. KITT brought his voice modulator online a split second after KARR did.

"I think we scared her, KARR." KITT said with a chuckle.

KARR's laugh was downright vicious. "That's an understatement. She's going to attract bugs like that."

Bonnie shut her mouth abruptly. "KITT?" she asked hesitantly, standing and taking a step towards the Trans-Am. "You're still alive?"

"If that's what you want to call it." KITT quipped.

She trailed her fingers across the hood, and KITT jerked back. Borden yelped. "I would appreciate it if you didn't do that while I'm under here!" he protested.

"Sorry." KITT said sheepishly. Borden grunted acknowledgement and resumed his work. Bonnie hesitated, a hurt look crossing her face. For once, KITT didn't say anything about it. He wasn't sure what to say anyway. Heather walked over and leaned against the Trans-Am's hood, a slightly sardonic smirk on her face. Jess joined her, while Raven assumed the same position on KARR's hood. KARR's engine thrummed in contentment.

Bonnie stared at them. "KITT?" Her voice was so hesitant, so unsure. It tore at him, to hear that tone directed to him.

But he didn't know what to say. How could he explain this to someone like Bonnie?

"I promised Michael I would keep living." he said quietly. "This is my reason to do it. My brother – and my girls."

Bonnie's eyes flickered from KITT to the girls and then to KARR. Her lip curled. "That disgrace?"

And KITT felt his heart break.


	5. What Truly Hurts

**What Truly Hurts**

KARR and KITT were alone in the garage that night, which was probably a good thing. There was a fight going on in the main mansion, and neither one of them were too keen on getting involved. They listened in in silence for the most part. "I'm surprised Jess and Raven aren't involved in that one." KITT said dryly.

KARR made a snorting sound he must have picked up from Raven. "No – Heather's doing her version of damage control. Jess and Raven are currently causing damage. Just another day in our lives."

They fell silent once again. KITT was brooding – KARR knew that much, and while it wasn't in his programming to care, it was in his nature. KITT had earned his respect and his trust in the past four years, and KARR had come to view him as a little brother. So KARR knew when something was bothering KITT. He thought he knew what it was this time. "Bonnie hurt you." he said bluntly.

KITT didn't deny it. "She did."

"Why? You of all people should know her opinion of me." KARR pointed out reasonably.

"It wasn't that." KITT sighed. There was a moment's pause as he got his thoughts in order. "You and I are a lot alike, more so than we were – what, fourteen years ago?"

"Something like that." KARR acknowledged. The actual number was no longer important to him. What was important was the past four years he had spent in the care of the girls and KITT.

"If she still thinks of you as a monster, what will she think of me when she learns of what we've done?"

Suddenly, KARR understood. "You still value her opinion after all these years?" he wondered. "I thought Bonnie was supposed to be the one to wipe your memory banks once they found you a new driver." KITT didn't respond, and KARR knew he was right. "Or was that one of those things you just don't think about? Those memories scare you."

"Still to this day." KITT admitted. "I trusted her. Now – I don't know. You saw how I reacted. There was a time when she was among the few I would allow near me."

KARR hesitated. "KITT – I believe it is completely normal for the people you trust to change with time." he said. "I'm not sure, but you see how they've changed with me. And you are like me, so why should it be different with you?"

They fell back into silence for a moment, but this time it lacked the strain of before. After a moment, KITT spoke, and KARR could hear the warmth in his voice.

"Thank you."

/---/

Heather opened the door to her room and let Bonnie in. The woman was still a bit leery around the girls, and Heather was about to either confirm her suspicions or earn her respect. So long as she got her point across, she didn't care which.

Bonnie tensed as Heather locked the door. "Privacy?" she asked.

"I don't want my sisters interrupting me." Heather said calmly. "They mean well, but this is my job." At Bonnie's look, she added, "What can I say? I have a big sister complex, especially when it comes to two certain AIs who we both know and hopefully love. So I have a question for you, and I want you to answer me honestly."

"Okay." Bonnie said slowly.

Heather smiled tightly. "What do you plan on doing now that you know KITT is alive?"

Bonnie didn't hesitated. "I'm taking him with me and we're getting out of here. I can't leave him here where FLAG might get a hold of him again."

The younger woman nodded. "I thought so. And what if KITT doesn't want to come with you?"

"He will." Bonnie said, with all the confidence born of an old friend who had no idea how much things had changed.

Heather nodded again. Calmly, blandly, she spoke. "Just to let you know – if he doesn't, back off. The decision is his. If he wants to go with you, I won't stop him. But if he wants to stay, you'd better not do anything that might turn him against us or KARR. Do you understand me?"

"And if I do?" Bonnie challenged, lifting her chin and glaring at Heather.

Heather had to admit, the woman had guts. Not too many were willing to mess with Heather once she issued an ultimatum. Except for Jess and Raven, but they were entitled. "I will take you out. And before you ask – that's not a death threat. I don't have to kill you to get you out of my way. KITT is my friend and my brother, and I won't have you hurting him, or using us against him. Do you understand me?"

Briefly, it almost looked like respect flickered through Bonnie's eyes. "Perfectly." she said. "But to let you know – I spent a long time as KITT's mechanic. He's as much mine as he is yours. I want to be there for him and – well, listen: once Devon died, Michael and I were the only ones KITT trusted."

"I know that." Heather said. "Knight was a good man."

"I need to be that person again." Bonnie whispered. "I've missed KITT so much, and Michael, I can't have him back. I have KITT back. Do you understand?"

Heather sighed. "Yeah, I do." she said reluctantly. "But Bonnie – don't be surprised if KITT doesn't immediately trust you. We had one of FLAG's operatives try and pull a fast one on us. Told us that he was Knight. He hurt KITT bad. So give him time."

Bonnie nodded, her eyes darkening. "I will."

/---/

AN: Next chapter – more action, and a certain little pervert bites the dust! Review, please!


	6. Gathering Intel

**Gathering Intel**

Bonnie walked in on a rather strange sight.

KITT and KARR were parked in the garage, as usual for them. Raven was sitting cross-legged on KARR's hood, watching the other three with no small amount of amusement. Kitson, Heather, and Jess were obviously cutting up in the wide open space in front of the vehicles where the mechanics worked. It looked as if Heather and Jess were trying to figure out something, and Kitson was impatiently explaining it to them.

"So, tell me again – where did you get this idea?" Heather asked, her voice shaking with barely contained laughter. Jess was holding on to Heather's shoulder to keep from falling over, she was laughing so hard. Kitson shot them both a mockingly dirty look.

"I saw it on a movie." he said. "It looked simple enough."

"KITT – you kinda need martial arts training to do that." Heather pointed out. "My sensei doesn't even do that."

"Your sensei doesn't have the right motivation." Kitson replied gamely. He eyed the wall for a moment, backed up a bit, and charged it. He got three steps up the wall before he fell flat on his back. "My calculations are a bit off." he grumbled.

"Doesn't that hurt?" Raven demanded, grinning ear to ear.

"Not really." Kitson replied. "But having the air knocked out of you is not the most comfortable feeling." He stood up and brushed himself off. "I haven't quite figured out what I'm doing wrong. I'm using the numbers I got from the movie."

"It might help you to know that the actor used harnesses and other such things." Jess said, finally starting to calm down. "Try getting numbers from a real human doing it, and then see where it gets you."

"Ah." He turned to the girls, an odd look on his face. "Neither of you are trying this, right?"

"Nah, we were going to bust our heads in for the fun of it." Heather chuckled. "I did it once, but it was with a tree on springy grass. I'm not doing it in here."

"Thank you."

"I don't have a death wish."

"I do!" Jess waved her hand in the air.

KARR laughed. "Yes, you do. We are very well aware of that fact." Jess stuck her tongue out at him, and Raven simply rolled her eyes while KARR laughed harder. "That's right. Real mature, Jess."

"Like you're any better." Heather shot back with a grin, coming to Jess's defense. "I'm pretty sure you were the one who gave KITT that movie to watch."

"No. If I really wanted to horrify him, I would have given him Nightmare Before Christmas to watch." KARR said cheerfully.

"Oh, crap." Raven muttered and covered her ears.

Kitson backed away mockingly from Jess and Heather. "Great. You had to bring that up, didn't you?" he laughed. "They're going to do it, I know they are."

Heather gave Jess a look. "Should we?"

"We would disappoint them otherwise." Jess said grandly. And they both bust into song.

Bonnie laughed as she came to stand beside KITT. "What are they singing?" she asked, starting to shake in laughter.

"This is Halloween." KITT muttered. Kitson smiled at her before vanishing. "Someone please shut them up. That song is only funny the first five or six times you hear it."

At that moment, a horrible wailing sound filled the air. Bonnie flinched, and the girls suddenly went into action. Raven slid from the hood and was inside KARR before Jess and Heather made it over to KITT. Jess slid into KITT's driver's seat and Heather grabbed Bonnie's shoulder. "Get in KITT, now!"

"What about you?" Jess demanded.

Heather headed back to the door that lead directly towards the mansion. "Borden and Drake are in the basement and Banachek isn't here. That means they can't hear the alarm."

"Let me drive you over there." KARR said. "It's safer."

Heather shot him a look. "What makes you think I' m going unarmed?" she demanded. "Just go! Make sure the perimeter is safe and all that jazz. I'll radio in if I need help." With that she turned and ran. Bonnie slid into the passenger seat and glanced at KITT's voice modulator.

"What did she mean, she's not unarmed?"

"Did you think we'd let them go running around without weapons?" KITT demanded, sounding slightly stressed. Jess patted the dash reassuringly.

"She can take care of herself." she told KITT. "Right now, we need to make sure the guards don't need help."

"KITT, follow me!" KARR called over the intercom system. "There's a breach in the south fence."

KITT cursed under his breath, but he followed KARR just the same. Yes, Heather could take care of herself, as she was fond of reminding everyone. He just wished she'd pick less dangerous times to play soldier.

/----/

Heather ran into the mansion, drawing her gun as she went. Raven and Jess could keep their machine guns, she thought with grim satisfaction. She'd keep the Sig her dad had given her for Christmas. She made her way through the mansion, heading to the basement stairs on the far side. She had to cross the reception area, kitchen, and dining area before she finally reached the hallway closet with the stairs. As stuffy as this place was on occasion, she had to appreciate the open areas. It made it so much harder to hide unless you knew the place well.

Which meant when she walked into the dining area, she couldn't help but see the bloody, bullet-ridden body laying on the ground in front of the door.

Gail was dead.

Not a waste, to be sure. But still very unnerving. Gail knew how to duck, unfortunately. That meant that someone really good had taken him out. Maybe they were good enough to take out Borden and Drake as well.

She shook that thought away. She'd know about it if they were dead. There'd be a lot more blood, for one thing.

She walked down into the basement, her gun pointing the way. Her stomach dropped when she saw.

A hole had been blown into the side of the mansion. From the garage, she couldn't have seen it. Shaking now, she activated her earwig. "Guys, we have a problem."

"_What is it?"_ KITT demanded.

"Borden and Drake are gone. FLAG has them."


End file.
